Proposed DUI bill forces first-time offenders to use breathalyzer to start car

The law could get a lot tougher on first time DUI offenders in California.

A new bill introduced Monday in the State Assembly by State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) proposes to install breathalyzers in cars for anyone convicted of driving drunk.

The catch is: your car doesn’t start if you have any alcohol in your system.

This type of program is already in place in 24 states across the country, and also in Alameda, Tulare, Sacramento and Los Angeles counties in California.

“I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s overboard,” said Miguel Hernandez, a Salinas-based criminal defense attorney. “In 39 years, I’ve seldom represented the same defendant as a second offender.”

Hernandez said drunk driving repeat offenders are rare when first timers are put through the intimidating court process.

“Everything’s going to go up from here on out. If you get a second offense and there is an accident and someone dies, they are going to be sending you to prison,” Hernandez said.

Much like Francisco Miranda.

He’s awaiting trial for allegedly running over and killing two women outside Natividad Medical Center in 2013. According to court records, that last DUI charge was his third of the year.

California judges can already require repeat offenders to install the breathalyzer in their cars.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said those that have the interlock device reduce the rate of future DUI arrests by about 70 percent.

“We like to go do DUI checkpoints and find that people are obeying the laws and driving safely,” said CHP Officer Sarah Jackson.

The CDC also said that checkpoints reduce alcohol-related crashes by nine percent.

Despite the numbers, Hernandez said the new proposed law won’t fix the problem. He said he doesn’t believe it will be a deterrent to the convicted offenders who want to beat the system.

They are going to figure out some way to get around it and not necessarily the device itself, they’ll just get another car that doesn’t have it,” Hernandez said.

If you are ordered by the court to use the breathalyzer attached to your car, the state requires you to foot the bill for it and maintain it.

If the bill passes, it will set up a five-year pilot program that’ll require first time offenders to use the device for six months.